Friday, 19 April 2013

Inspired by plants, Scottish scientists have harnessed the principles of photosynthesis to generate clean energy from hydrogen. The breakthrough, they say, offers a potential solution to the global energy crisis.

Published in the journal Nature Chemistry, the scientists, from the University of Glasgow, said that the innovation could generate green energy “on an industrial scale” from water, which could “significantly reduce the country’s carbon footprint”.

Unlike fossil fuels, hydrogen – the most abundant element in the planet – can be burned to produce energy without releasing any emissions into the atmosphere.

The new development is one of the first of its kind: an electrolysis system that is capable of splitting water and releasing hydrogen and oxygen in separate stages – a challenge that scientists have been working on for decades.